


The path we choose

by Keiyushi



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bull's Chargers, Drunkenness, Fights, Gen, Inquisitor (Dragon Age) is not the Herald of Andraste, Lavellan (Dragon Age) is not the Inquisitor, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:43:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29552310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keiyushi/pseuds/Keiyushi
Summary: This isn't a full story, just some random scenarios with my Lavellan being one of the chargers.
Relationships: The Iron Bull/Male Lavellan (Dragon Age)
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aerith has been on his own for years now, with no family or friends to rely on, he has done everything he can to survive but his luck seems to have run out. Tired and starving he decides to steal but it just happens that he steals from the wrong person.

It was bound to happen, either it was today, tomorrow or next week it would happen. Aerith walked down the crowded streets of Halamshiral, his hood over his head with a scarf hiding his mouth and nose. He hadn't eaten in days now after his pouch got stolen by a shem. His luck really had run out and he thought to himself if this was it, if this is all life had to offer him only pain and suffering. He stopped for a moment, his legs hurting from the long days of walk to get to the city, he sat on top of an old crate and sighed.

He really was pitiful, a banished elf before even getting his vallaslin finished, banned from ever going to another clan with no family or friends to rely on and no coin to his name. It sounded more like a story told around a camp fire. As he stared into the crowd of people he decided to find someone to steal from, it wasn't the first time he'd do something like this but it was harder now that he was starving with little to no sleep, so he decided to find someone that would be easy to outrun, he'd rather not have to fight anyone, especially someone with company. He scanned the crowd and finally his eyes landed on a man that was about avarage height for a shem and was wearing heavy looking armor that would surely make him slower, he glanced over him and saw a pouch fastened tightly to the mans belt, easy swipe with the dagger he had. He sighed, praying that he gets away with it, he walked closer nonchalantly and pulled his dagger out from his sleeve, covering it with his palm, as he looked closer he saw that the man was speaking to an elf and thought that that'd make a good distraction, he walked closer and just as he walked right past the man he cut the string that held the pouch and took it easily. He smiled to himself hiding the dagger back into his sleeve and just as he put the pouch away he heard a yell "Stop right there!" He looked behind him and saw the man with the elf running towards him. 

He quickly took off, pushing through the crowd that either cursed at him or just stared in confusion. He ran as fast as he could down the main street and glanced behind him seeing them right behind him and he decided that it would be a good idea to run towards the alleys. As he was running a carriage was moving and he swiftly jumped over it hearing the driver yell profanities at him but he didn't pay any mind. He took a sharp turn to his right, running into an alleyway, all he could hear were his quick foot steps and the occasional splash of a puddle that he had stepped in.

As he got to the end of it he hit a dead end, quickly scanning the area he saw a wooden pole and started climbing it just as the man had caught on to him "Stop!" He heard him yell but he just kept going, smiling to himself for getting away, he jumped on the roof of the closest building and stopped for a moment to catch his breath but he suddenly heard quick footsteps and looked behind him seeing the elf from before jumping from roof to roof towards him "shit" he muttered and started sprinting, at this point it didn't matter where he was going as long as he got away. As he jumped to a much higher building he barely stopped at the edge, almost falling off, he looked behind him and saw that the elf stood right behind him "give me back what you stole and you can walk away" she said with an angry expression that sent shivers down his spine. He sighed turning towards her and took a step closer placing his hand on the pouch, the elf held out her hand waiting for it to be placed there, but as he got closer he quickly turned around and sprinted to the edge jumping off the building.

The elf ran to the edge, her mouth and eyes wide open in shock, seeing him land onto a lower house, back first srcatching it in the process with the hard wood of the roof. He let out a hiss in pain and slowly stood up stretching his back that most definately had splinters stuck to it. He looked up behind him towards the still in shock elf and smiled giving her a quick wave and then running off and down to another alley. 

As he dropped down from the wall that he used to get down from the roof he groaned and fell to his knees, feeling his legs go numb. After a moment he got up slowly and started walking. 'Well that didn't go as planned' he thought as he held onto the wall to his left for support but abruptly stopped as he saw the man whom he had stolen the pouch from standing right at the edge of the alleyway. He quickly straightened up and took out his dagger, the man just launched at him with an angry yell ready to push him gainst the wall but he easily dodged it. The man quickly recovered elbowing Aerith right in the back, making him tumble foward only to get a knee to the stomach from the man, he fell to his knees holding onto his stomach in pain, as the man walked closer he swiftly kicked at his legs making the man fall down. 

Aerith quickly tackled him, his dagger clenched in his hand ready to kill if he has to. The man struggled back against him, holding onto Aerith's wrists to push him away. Suddenly he felt someone from behind grab him and push him into the wall knocking the air out of him and making him fall down. He started gasping for air and pushed himself up on his elbows. As he looked up he saw a giant horned man help the other get up and then looking back down at him "I believe you have something that belongs to one of my men" said the giant with a deep voice and Aerith couldn't help but chuckle and cough out "finders keepers" he gasped again and the giant just rolled his one eye and walked closer pulling him up by the arm, Aerith letting out a surprised yelp. As the giant went for the pouch, he grabbed onto his wrist and the giant quickly let go dropping him and hissing in pain holding his wrist and staring at the now burned flesh. Suddenly there were more steps coming towards them and quickly they were surrounded by a group of people "chief! Is everything alright?" He heard one of them say but wasnt sure which, his vision getting blurry. "Yeah, burned my arm though" the giant said more calmly than someone else would after getting their arm burned "damn thief is a mage" said the man in the heavy armor and then he saw that elf again "just get your coin back and let's go." She said in that stern voice again. As his vision cleared he saw something that looked like explosives at a dwarfs belt and prayed to any entity that it was. With a quick flick of a finger he sent a spark towards the explosives and just in time the dwarf noticed what he was doing and took off the belt, throwing it away quickly. The explosion that happened next sent them all flying giving Aerith enough time to get away with the smoke and debris as his cover. As the smoke cleared out the group that was there trying to get up and clear the dust from their faces looked at each other in disbelief "they got away chief" the man in the armor stated "they couldn't be far off, they were pretty banged up" said the giant "Grim, Dalish, Stitches and Rocky, you go back to the inn, me, Krem and Skinner got this. Just make sure you pay this time, I'm not your damn sitter" he added and the rest nodded walking away.

Aerith barely managed to walk two blocks, he could still see the smoke from the explosion from where he was. He placed his hand on the pouch feeling the hefty amount of coin that was inside and decided that it was worth it. With so much he could get a room, clean clothing and food for weeks "I'll sleep in the bathtub for sure after this" he coughed out grinning "might wanna get away first" he heard and quickly spun around, dagger in hand ready to strike only to have both his wrists held by the same giant. He struggled to get away to no avail, his vision getting more blurry and feeling the strength leave his body. The armored man took his pouch back securing it better to his belt "now that wasn't so hard was it-?" As the giant said he felt the other pass out in his arms. "What happened?" Krem asked as Bull laid Aerith down and pulled his hood and scarf back revealing the dirtied freckled face of an elf with fiery red hair that was matted and oily. Skinner walked closer examining the now revealed thief "Exhaustion and probably thirst. Could also be mild concussion from earlier" he said and picked him up "woah woah wait. With all due respect chief but what are you doing?" Krem asked putting his hands up in protest, Skinner gave a disapproving look "he took you down, outran Skinner and then set an explosion almost getting away from all of us while exhausted and malnourished, I think he deserves a reward" Bull said "this is a bad idea chief and it's on you" Krem let out a sigh "I agree. He has already caused enough trouble as it is. Besides, he is a mage." Added Skinner, crossing her arms over her chest. Bull shook his head. They were right, he knew it himself but something about this particular elf intrigued him. He looked down at the elf he was holding and thought about it for a moment. Fuck it. One more couldn't hurt, and he definitely had a lot of potential, he gave a smile to Skinner and Krem and without another word they started their walk back to the inn.

As Aerith opened his eyes he felt a painful throb in his head and he grimaced letting out a groan. He placed his hand on his head trying to make it stop but of course it wouldn't. "You are one tough elf" he quickly jumped up from the voice, ready to attack only to see the giant of a man sitting on a chair reading papers as if it was a casual day at the park. Still ready to attack, Aerith stared at the man without blinking "you took down one of my best men, outran the fastest person I know, took out my whole group and all that while in this state" he added to the matter. "Eat up, you need it" and Aerith looked to the table beside the bed that he was sitting on and saw a hot bowl of stew with some bread and a glass of water. His stomach growled at the sight and without a second thought he took and and started munching down. "I am The Iron Bull and the others are my chargers." He said and Aerith stopped eating looking at Bull with questioning eyes. The man was totally his type, well built, tall, a weapon of man, but the circumstances were a bit off. His eyes trailed down at the burn mark he had left on the mans arm almost healed, Bull noticed and chuckled "one of mine, Stitches, his work. The guy isn't even a mage. He's the one that took care of you too." With that Aerith put the bowl down and looked at his scratches and felt his back only to feel numbness. He sat there for a moment not really thinking and before he could stop himself the question already came out "why?" At that Bull stared at him and sighed, putting the papers that he was reading down on the table "I'll make this quick. I saw what you can do. You are fast, you are clever and you would've gotten away if you weren't in bad shape. I lead a mercenary group and I would like for you to join. You get paid with every mission that we take, only thing you have to do is just follow my orders." He said, staring Aerith right in the eyes waiting for an answer. He thought about it, he had done everything he had to survive, every little dirty work, from cleaning tables to selling his body to perverted old men with a fetish for elves, and he's been alone for so long that he craved the company of others. He could fight, he could follow orders, he just wanted somewhere to belong to, somewhere that he was sure that he wouldn't end up alone. And maybe this was it. "Okay. I'll join you." He said more sure than he was in months, Bull just smiled at him and stood up "welcome to the chargers" and with that he left the room, leaving Aerith alone with his thoughts. Something about The Iron Bull drew him in. He didn't ask his name and who he was, he didn't judge him by his race, he just saw what he could offer and like chosing a weapon, bought it. Aerith ate the rest of his stew and got up going to wash up. 

As evening came with Aerith now clean, fed and rested, he walked downstairs to the bar that was filled with people, music playing by probably a local band, he looked around and saw the table where the chargers were sitting and before he could do anything Bull had spotted him and waved for him to come over. As he walked closer the atmosphere grew tense and all eyes were on him. "This is our new recruit" Bull said happily with no answer from the chargers so he decided to introduce himself "My name is Aerith. I am dalish and I'm a runaway. I hope you forgive my mishaps and accept me into the group" he said and still got no response, after a few more moments of silence he got a round of laughter from everyone. He stood there dumbfounded looking at everyone and then at Bull who was just drinking his ale with no care "that was really fucking smart to set off my explosives! The name's Rocky, pleasure to meet you" the dwarf said with a friendly smile "uhh, thank you.." he said unsure "take a seat, preferably not next to Skinner as she is pissed that there is someome faster than her" Krem pointed at Skinner who just nodded at him without any word "that over there is Dalish. Don't let her appearance fool you, she is ruthless." Bull said nodding at Dalish who sat across the table smiling "then there is Stitches, the one that makes sure we don't die" he continued pointing at the man sitting across from him "the chief demands a lot but the pay is good" he said with a sip of his ale "and that over there is Grim, he uh, doesn't talk much. Probably coz he's keeping a lot of secrets" Bull said and the man named Grim just grunted going back to shuffling a deck of cards. Aerith was surprised at how the group was. He didn't have much time to look at all of them back in the streets before the explosion but now that everything was okay and settled he liked it. Bull's voice pulled him away from his thoughts "and of course you've met him but this is my right hand man, Krem." Krem smiled at him raising his glass in acknowledgment "hope there aren't any hard feelings.." Aerith said with a chuckle rubbing the back of his neck "all is in the past and all is good. Gonna have to work hard for our trust though" Krem said and placed his glass on the table "I intend to do so" Aerith answered and Bull ordered a glass of ale for him s a welcoming gift. Aerith wasn't sure what he got himself into but he sure was excited to see where it went as he finally wouldn't have to be alone.


	2. After a while

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aerith has now been with the chargers for over 3 months, while still apprehensive on talking about himself and opening up the others don't seem to mind and accept him, but his sassy character shows.

As Bull pulled out his axe from a slain spider he turned around, faster than anyone would think he could by the size that he is, cutting right in half another giant spider that was about to attack, it made a horrid sound as it fell to the ground, it's insides spilling out with a squelch, a disgusting stench coming from it making Bull grimace. He looked at his chargers, making sure no one was hurt and if they needed help, Dalish was catching her breath with Rocky close by, Krem was just finishing off a spider himself with Grim for backup, Stitches was already looking around to make sure if anyone needed potions and Skinner was picking up her arrows that were still good for use. From a bit ways ahead they heard an angry scream and all turned to the source of it, Aerith was trapped under a spider and with an attempt to get away from it he pierced it right in the stomach with his short sword, it hissed and looked like it was about to strike but instead it's insides spilled out right on top of him and he quickly pushed it away, it's legs still twitching. He got up, dropping the weapon to the ground, looking down at himself trying not to puke from the stench and the gross slime that covered him. Krem was first to run over, taking out a cloth from his pocket handing it to him, Aerith taking it and wiping his face with it so he could open his eyes properly. "That's some bad luck right there" Krem said shaking his head "if you got any in your mouth spit it out, it can be toxic, probably not good for your skin either" Stitches said knowing that Aerith already knew but still making sure. Bull grinned at him and pointed behind him, towards the path they've been walking before they got attacked "good news is there's the beach, bad news is it's probably fucking freezing" Aerith looked up at him unamused and very visibly angry "I wouldn't be in this situation in the first place if a certain someone would let me use my magic to clean up." He stated and Bull just shook his head "how are you supposed to learn without consequences if everytime you just rely on a flick of a finger?" He asked but didn't wait for an answer and started walking towards the path with Grim, Rocky and Dalish behind. "Dirthara-ma(may you learn). This makes it the second time." Skinner crossed her arms with a disapproving look, getting only a click of a tongue for an answer from him.

As they all got to the coast they started setting up tents while Aerith walked a little ways ahead to some boulders for privacy. Traveling with a mercenary group offered little to no privacy, it was a luxury to have when they had that extra coin to spend on an inn but on the road it was a different story. He had seen Rocky naked more times than he would like, the man just laughing at him. As he got out of his clothes and placed them on a boulder he stepped into the water but quickly jumped back from the cold "Mythal! It's fucking freezing!" He yelled but then took a deep breath, it was either this or walk around with toxic spider guts all over him, with a prayer he jumped into the water head first and stood still shivering, cursing everything in existence except himself, he started rubbing his skin with the water, washing away the dirt that had gathered from the fight and days on the road but with just salty water it was hard to remove. As he cleaned his body as best he could, he looked down at his reflection, seeing his long red hair all tangled and dirty, he started to angrily wash it but after a moment gave up, at this point he would die of hypothermia trying to wash his hair. As he got out he looked at his dirty clothes and sighed, no way in hell would he get back into the water just to wash them. Instead he decided to use a spell, as he made sure no one was around he quietly chanted and the clothes got clean, he put them back on still feeling the slime and blood on his skin but ignored it and walked back to camp. 

As he returned back to the camp the rest had put up he got a disapproving look from Bull, of course he knew that he would use magic. Aerith just stuck out his tongue in return and walked towards the fire, sitting down to warm up, suddenly he felt someone sit behind him and a strong tug on his hair, he hissed in pain, ears going down "why have long hair when you cannot even take care of it?" Asked Skinner as she started untangling the knots "because you take care of it for me" he smiled sweetly at her and she just rolled her eyes "besides, some people like it." He added, staring at his perfectly cut nails, making sure they were clean to his liking "mar solas ena mar din(your pride will be your death)" she said back, starting to braid some strands back, he just smiled and left it at that. After Skinner was done with her handiwork, which she actually liked doing but would never admit to, she got up "ma serannas"(thank you) he said, touching the cool metal jewelry that she had added, and walked away to her tent. Aerith got up as well, stretching his back, his bones cracking after a hard days work and walked to the empty spot to put up his tent.

As the sun set with the moon rising along with the stars that illuminated the ground, the chargers gathered around the camp fire, taking quickly whatever meat they fancied from the fire and ate. As they ate Rocky pulled out from his bag a fancy looking bottle "shall we drink?" He smiled, waving the bottle for everyone to see "and where the fuck did you get that?" Bull asked but already had an assumption "that last nobleman who hired us to take out his cousin " he answered, popping the cork from the bottle with a satisfying pop "no wonder all our clients hate us, Rocky's probably been stealin' from all of them" Krem said and they chuckled "thank flames over there. He distracts them while I swipe them. It would've been wasted anyways, sittin' there collecting dust" Rocky said taking a swing of the drink with a sigh "and how does he distract them exactly?" Bull asked eyeing Aerith curiously who just smiled, taking the bottle from Rocky and taking a long swing from it "wouldn't you like to know boss" he said, that shit eating grin still on his face. Skinner rolled her eyes and Rocky whistled "isn't that mouth of yours to blame that you got in trouble back in Val Royeaux?" Dalish asked with an accusatory tone "oh come on. If it wasn't for his big mouth we wouldn't have as much fun" Rocky stated happily, somehow him and Aerith had gotten very close, their chaotic tendencies really didn't mix well but they got along the best. "Thank you Rocky. Glad someone is appreciative of my presence" Aerith said with a bow of his head, he handed the bottle to Skinner who gladly took it, drinking quiet a bit "what was it again? But ser! You were the one who wanted to roll in bed with this lowly elf" Krem said with an exaggerated accent and the group laughed with Grim just grunting. "The guy almost beheaded you in front of everyone! Damn crazy bastard" he added and Aerith scoffed "I might be an easy lay but I have standards!" He flipped his hair to make his point more clear "It's not even mercenary group anymore, took one more elf to make this into an orphanage for troubled individuals" Bull said shaking his head and drinking some of his own liquor. "Pretty good fucking group you have chief if I do say so myself. Should be proud" Krem said trying to pat as hard as he could Bull's shoulder who didn't even budge. "Between Rocky trying to explode anything within 5 meters, Skinner not trying to kill any shem that looks at her sideways and Aerith not getting himself killed after seducing every person in the inns we go to I'd say me and Stitches babysit the rest of you" Bull said with a smile Grim scoffing as well showing that he's offended "no disrespect Grim but I'm still waiting for some kind of army to attack us and take you back as their lost king" Bull added, getting a grunt as a response.

As they all talked about past jobs they had gotten, with Grim, Dalish and Stitches calling it a night and going to their tents, the rest just started singing songs, not tired enough to end the night. In Bull's case, he decided to keep watch so he had walked a bit away leaving the on quote "children" to their own. Skinner and Aerith started talking in dalish as they always would when they wanted to not be understood by others, mostly to annoy them since they enjoyed watching them sweat it out. "Out of everyone, you two scare me the most" Rocky stated, butting into the conversation and taking another sip of the sweet liquor that he had stolen "whatever do you mean?" Skinner asked raising an eyebrow "you two could be plotting to kill us for all we know, not to mention the times you two whisper in the night and the only thing you see is those freakish eyes" Rocky said demonstrating what he meant by opening his eyes as wide as he could. "At least we can see better in the dark. And don't worry, if we actually planned to kill you all we wouldn't make it so obvious" said Skinner with a frightening smile that even Krem shivered "good to know" he said and shook his head "Tel'abelas"(I'm not sorry) said Skinner dismissing any other comments. 

As the rest of the chargers got into their tents, Aerith walked closer to the treeline where Bull had been sitting for the past few hours. As he creeped closer Bull of course heard him and turned to look at him only to have a surprised expression "you and Skinner seriously need to stop doing that" he said furrowing his brows. Aerith's eyes glowed amber in the dark, as if representing his fire magic, like a colorful snake that while beautiful it warns anyone who tries to hurt it that it is actually dangerous. "I apologize but I cannot decline my vision for just your comfort" Aerith said with a cocky smile and sat down next to Bull. "Then I guess you wouldn't mind taking the watch since your vision is better than mine" Bull said with a smile and Aerith chuckled "I actually came to keep you company" he said with a smile that he used on anyone that he fancied. "Well it is appreciated" Bull said and they both leaned back against a tree, looking up at the stars. "I don't actually hate them" he finally said and Aerith looked at him and chuckled "I knew that already" with that a comfortable silence fell between them, only the sounds of rustling leaves, the wind and the occasional bird sounds were heard. "I'm sorry for using magic earlier. I promise that I only used it to clean my clothes" Aerith said without turning to look at Bull, instead he kept staring at the night sky. He wasn't good with apologies so he preferred not to look at the other when he made them. Luckily for him Bull was understanding and never held it gainst him. Like always he just smiled down at him and said "forgiven. I just don't want any itchy templars picking a fight that can be avoided. No need for trouble." Aerith just nodded, after a few months of him being in the group he learned some rules that he especially had to follow so there wouldn't be any troubles while they traveled. Bull was strict when it came to magic, with everything that was happening, the mages who gave in to the demons and the templars killing any mage on sight he didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to them, he agreed for the most part but sometimes he just couldn't control it, it's as if he had too much magic in him and had to let it out, but he tried and didn't complain, with Bull's help he had learned to weild almost any weapon that was given to him. 

Bull looked down at him "hey, you have that look again. What's on your mind?" He asked and Aerith just shook his head "I was just thinking about how glad I am to be here." Bull let him continue without interrupting "thinking back to how I was before you took me in, I'm sure I wouldn't be alive now. After my clan exiled me I was alone, I did everything I could to survive, things I had to do.." he trailed off looking down at his hands, thinking about his next words carefully "what I'm trying to say is, thank you." He looked up at Bull in the eye, honesty and appreciation all across his face. Bull was taken aback, Aerith never talked about his past, let alone mention it, avoiding the topic completely so that was new, but him actually thanking him for just giving him a choice was surprising. It's not like he forced him but he was still thankful. Bull smiled "I got you. How about you go rest now, I'm sure you need it" Aerith smiled back nodding and with that he got up and walked towards his tent, sleep falling over him immediately.


	3. A friend to rely on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aerith still hasn't opened up to everyone but he was glad he had Rocky.

"No! Don't-!" Was all Bull managed to yell before a big explosion erupted, sending boulders tumbling down towards the path that he and the chargers were currently fighting on. The rocks fell right on top of the giant behemoth that had attacked them on the way while they were walking on a path down a mountain, it had ended up being much stronger than they anticipaded and for some reason Aerith had the bright idea to set an explosion so it would get crushed by the boulders and of course Rocky had agreed with excitment. Bull dropped his arms that he had put up to protect his face, he saw that the plan had indeed worked, the behemoth was now burried under tons of rocks and boulders probably dead from the lack of movement by the arm that stuck out from under the pile, he then looked around to see if everyone was okay. 

Krem had been knocked down on his ass by the explosion but seemed to be unharmed, Stitches was looking over Grim and Dalish who also seemed to be okay aside from a few scratches, he caught Skinner's eyes as she too was checking over the situation, as he turned to look at where Rocky and Aerith stood he heard them laughing. "That was brilliant! Flames you never seize to amaze me!" Rocky patted Aerith on the back who was sitting on the ground cheering, dirt all over his clothes and face, Bull walked over to them with a disapproving look, as he got close Aerith looked up at him with a big smile "chief! The plan worked!" he said with a proud look "it was a stupid plan. We couldve all been burried under all these rocks with the behemoth." Bull said crossing his arms and Aerith's smile faded and so did Rocky's happy rambling, now he was looking up at him with a confused look, standing up and dusting his pants from the dirt "but we didn't, the plan worked." he said firmly locking eyes with Bull "we all have to be on the same page here. We all follow commands, MY commands, and I said to not do it." Bull said back a bit louder now, Aerith kept his ground, fists held tightly in anger but gave up, looking down at the ground muttering a "sorry chief" but not meaning it and with that they all picked up their belongings and started their journey to the next town, spirits now less high with a thick silence taking place. 

They finally made it to town right as the sun set, as always, even with the little crowd that the streets had everyone stared at them. Well, mostly at Bull, it wasn't everyday that people got to see a qunari. When they all settled to their rooms they headed down to the inn, all except Aerith and Rocky, they were in the room that they both decided to share since the cost that way would be less. Aerith was looking at himself in the mirror, admiring his outfit for the night "nah, put the hair up, show the back" said Rocky nd he agreed, pulling his hair up into a bun showing off the open back of the long sleeved shirt that he was wearing. "That's better" Rocky exclaimed standing up "let's go see who's going to be the unlucky sod we'll catch tonight" Aerith nodded with a mischievous smile.

When they got downstairs and to the bar they purposely sat at a different table from the rest of the chargers and ordered a drink. Aerith looked at them seeing the exaggerated eyeroll from Krem and a shake of a head from Stiches. Weirdly enough he didn't see Bull with them or anywhere in the room, was he already with a woman upstairs? The thought only made his ear twitch in irritation, he would be lying if he said that he wasn't interested in the man, in fact he thought so hard about him that he didn't even realize that a man had walked up to them and was trying to flirt with him and because he wasn't answering Rocky had to for him "my friend seems to be a little down, maybe this gentleman can make your night?" Rocky asked louder this time and Aerith blinked a few times forgetting all about the plan and what was Rocky referring to. He finally looked up at the man, he was very avarage, much to his liking, square jaw, too perfect of a smile and..were his eyebrows plucked? "Just decided to approach you, kinda hard to take eyes off of ya" the man said in another cheap attempt to flirt with him. Aerith scoffed, all energy leaving him and waved his hand dismissively "sorry, not interested." He said and the man didn't seem to get the message and tried again "aw, in bad mood? I can help ya with that" he winked and Aerith had enough "look here pal, I have about 10 more people in here that would like to spend the night with me and you-" he pointed at him with his finger now standing up and looking him straight in the eye "-you would be myy last choice." The man stood there with his mouth hung open in disbelief, some of the people who heard them whispered and some giggled, the man blushed from embarrassment and scoffed walking away with what little dignity he had left. Aerith himself stormed out and yhe chargers looked at Rocky who just shrugged, he ordered a whole bottle of rum and followed him outside. 

It took him a while to find Aerith, he found him sitting on the ground against a tree a little ways out of town, his hair now down in a tamgled red mess. "Oh flames.." Rocky muttered and walked closer and sat down next to him. They were silent, listening to the night sounds, Rocky took the bottle and popped the cork taking a swing and letting out a satisfied sigh "once I was at this big market where merchants from all over the country had gathered to sell goods" he started, Aerith turned and stared at him without a word "And this was before I joined the chargers, they were selling all kinds of things, from vases, jewelry to fucking weird fetish stuff. Nothing really catching my eye, until I saw an old raggedy stand, simple, made of wood, decorated with some exotic looking flowers, the merchant claimed that he was from a far away island and sold seashells and other things, and there, on the far end of the stand behind him stood a beatifully curved, sparkly bottle of alchohol." He demonstrated wmthe curves of the bottle with his hands, Aerith looking with an amused grin. Rocky paused and then slapped the top of his thigh "but I was broke. And the fucker was selling it for 5 gold" he exclaimed angrily "so I decided to snatch it while he wasn't looking. I sat nearby some crates, took me almost half a day to find the perfect timing" he paused and took out of his satchel some small, pebble looking things that he threw one down and it made a loud pop startling Aerith. 

"So I decided to make a distraction myself. I took one of these and threw it inside a vase that he was selling and the thing actually exploded!" Aerith huffed a little laugh at that "he panicked so much, cursing and looking around and then picking up the pieces off the ground, so while he was doing that I took the bottle and went on my mary way." He took a big gulp of the rum that he brought with him "I sat under a tree, on a night like this one and drank, it was spicy yet sweet. I tried to savor it but couldn't and drank the whole thing in minutes" he took another swing and there was a pause, this time he didn't continue and Aerith raised an eyebrow "and then what?" He asked and Rocky looked back at him raising an eyebrow of his own "whaddaya mean what?" He shrugged "nothing" he said. Aerith had a puzzled look on his face "why did you tell me this?" He asked and Rocky gave another shrug "there wasn't really any reason really" he said and offered the rum to him and he gladly took it drinking some. They sat in silence until Aerith broke it "thank you" he said and Rocky gave him a small shove which made him laugh. 

They sat there drinking the rest of the rum, he was thankful that Rocky was the one who found him, he never tried to pry into his personal space, he gave company when he needed it. Rocky shared more of his stories and Aerith Aerith couldn't control his laughter, his stomach hurting from so much. Once they drank the whole bottle they decided to return to the inn. They were stumbling through the streets singing loudly, at some point getting yelled at by an old grumpy lady to which Aerith flipped her off and Rocky laughed. As they kept walking they came across the chargers who too were returning to the inn. They looked puzzled but Krem was the one to ask "you seem to be in good spirits" Aerith smiled, they tried to contain their laughter but couldn't and started laughing uncontrollably, getting another round of confused looks from the rest, they just walked past them and started singing again all the way back to the inn.

**Author's Note:**

> English isn't my first or second language so forgive me for any mistakes:)
> 
> Aerith's name is pronounced E-rith for those who struggle.


End file.
